Critics say FBI safeguards not enough anymore

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Critics question whether safeguards put in place a quarter-century ago following FBI wiretapping misconduct are strong enough to prevent abuse in the 21st century. Others fear the information superhighway is turning out to be a fast path to mass surveillance.\nWhat makes the White House surveillance program, acknowledged after The New York Times disclosed it in December, a cause of such concern is that it skirts existing laws and employs techniques resembling a wide-mouthed vacuum before the fine-toothed combs can be wielded.\nIt's being performed by the ultra-secret National Security Agency, which is believed to have the most advanced information vacuuming technology available. \nThe agency's efforts are reported to enjoy the cooperation of telecommunications companies, which run the major backbones and junctions where data, phone calls and Internet traffic are exchanged between carriers' networks. Those companies have refused to confirm or deny to The Associated Press whether they've cooperated with the program, which the White House says began in 2002 with the aim of preventing terrorist attacks.\nBut they could be helping in a number of ways to provide information on who's talking to whom, when, how long the communication lasts and, ultimately, the content itself. Under the laws bypassed by the Bush administration, warrants for wiretaps require some evidence of wrongdoing.\nGiven the huge amount of data that traverses networks, it's likely that one element of the program involves analyzing traffic to single out anyone who communicates with people in suspicious locations. Data accumulated for phone billing could be one of the sources.